


Together, we are enough

by orphan_account



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, F/F, Fluff, Opal AU, Other characters will feature, hopal for opal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-28
Updated: 2020-03-29
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:02:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23362903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: When Rose died, Pearl and Amethyst didn’t drift apart. Instead they became closer than ever. Much closer.(My take on the OPAL AU)
Relationships: (past), Amethyst/Pearl (Steven Universe), Pearl/Rose Quartz (Steven Universe), Ruby/Sapphire (Steven Universe)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 33





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I love Opal. She’s one of my favourite fusions easily, but I have a few problems with a lot of Opal AU’s which I’ve explained here:  
> https://twinkletwinklelittledream.tumblr.com/post/613671588519378944/so-the-idea-of-an-opal-au-is-something-that-really
> 
> I’ve also gone a little more in depth about this au and some plot points I may be adding. 
> 
> Have fun reading!! I hope you enjoy.

“GARNET, OPAL!” Steven yelled, barrelling himself through the front door, holding an old ice cream freezer patterned with cats. He had bad news to share. 

Garnet looked up for a second, but before Steven could continue, a large bug attempted to jump onto his face. Well bug wasn’t entirely accurate, and neither was large really. It was a huge... well it was a huge something. Steven put his arms over his face and shut his eyes. Was this the end of Steven Universe? 

Then a whip shot around the creature’s middle, interrupting the ascent onto Steven. Steven looked up, grateful that his time hadn’t been cut short and saw Opal. She waved a hand at him, but she seemed momentarily distracted by another of the creatures. 

Looking around the house, Steven saw that there were several of them. Garnet was stood, mechanically breaking their necks, but Opal, having abounded the whip, seemed to be unsuccessfully trying to use her bow to bat them away. 

“Opal, use your hands,” called Garnet, and Opal blinked as if she hadn’t thought of that, and grabbed two and snapped both of their necks. Then she looked at the remains- or rather lack of, confused. 

“They don’t have gem.” she said and Garnet walked over, the struggling body of one of the things still in her hands. Steven looked at it properly. It was kinda cute in a strange buggy way he thought.

“What are they?”

“We’re calling them Centipeedles,” said Garnet, freeing one of her hands to pat Steven on the head. “We think they’re trying to get into the temple.” 

“Do we really have to get rid of them?” he asked “they’re super cool!” 

The centipeedle decided it had had enough of this and attempted to make its way out of Garnet’s arms. Garnet held fast, but the creature ended up drooling all over her arm. Steven watched in fascination and fear as the drool hit the floor and created a large hole. “cool,” he breathed. Opal winced and Garnet just stood there as if nothing had happened. 

“Why don’t they have gems?” asked Steven? He thought for a second, “Why would they have gems?” He looked up just in time to see Garnet and Opal looking at each other awkwardly before garnet spoke up. 

“There must be a mother somewhere nearby,” said Garnet, jerking her hands and making the centipeedle in her hands poof into dust. Another one tried to sneak up behind her, but she punched it without turning her head. 

“We should find it.” said Opal, stomping on one crawling across the ground. “Before someone gets hurt.” 

“Can I come? Please!” begged Steven, the bad news he had it share practically forgotten, shoved out of his mind by the prospect of adventure. 

“We can protect humanity without you,” smiled Opal, and Steven felt his smile slide off his face. “For now” she added, trying to make Steven feel better. 

“Aw man,” Said Steven. He was disappointed but not surprised: he never got to do cool stuff like fight giant bug monsters. 

He then looked up to see one of the centipeedles rooting around in his fridge. “Hey,” he called angrily “get out of there!” He ran to the kitchen and shooed it away. He looked mournfully at the contents of the fridge, not even registering Garnet using her gauntlets to send it flying. “Not cool!” He shouted over his shoulder as it was airborne. 

He looked back at the fridge to see if there was anything to save, and there they were in the freezer department. The holy grail of beauty. He gasped in disbelief. “It can’t be!” His eyes widened and he let out a squeal. There on the freezer shelf were hundreds, if not thousands, of Cookie Cats! Well maybe more like 20, but it was still a lot! Opal and Garnet walked over to see what the fuss was about and Opal smiled down at him. “Where did these come from?” asked Steven, “They stopped making them!” 

“We know,” said Opal. “We heard about that. And we knew that they were your favourite. We went out and bought them for you.” 

“I bought them.” Garnet interrupted. “Opal picked them up and left the shop without paying.” 

Opal blushed. “I forgot,” she murmured and Steven laughed and hugged her excitedly.   
“The whole thing was my idea,” said Garnet, and Steven hugged her too. Opal opened her mouth, but then shut it without saying anything. 

Steven looked at the treats, and picked one up delightedly. As he looked at the pure deliciousness in his hands he began to sing along to the old ad for cookie cats. 

Opal and Garnet smiled and laughed along and Steven grinned delightedly before opening the wrapper and taking a bite. He was in bliss. 

“I like to eat the ears first, he remarked, but he didn’t get a response. Instead they seemed to be staring at him. Steven was confused but then he looked down. 

“My gem!” 

“Try to pull out your weapon!” said Opal, uncharacteristically excited, but Steven panicked and the glow began to fade. 

“Calm down and breathe, Steven,” Garnet attempted to soothe, but Steven couldn’t listen, too wound up. The three of them watched as the glow faded. Steven felt dejected but it was the closest he’d ever gotten. 

He slipped the unfinished cookie cat back into its wrapper and slid it into the still open freezer before closing the fridge door. “Can’t one of you guys explain how to summon a weapon,” he begged and Opal raised a hand. 

“I’ll go first,” she suggested and Garnet nodded. Steven grinned his eyes shining. This was gonna work! He could feel it!

___________________________________________________________________________

Steven wriggled excitedly. It wasn’t often that he got to hang out with Opal and she was always so quiet so getting a lesson from her was just a dream come true. She stood in front of an old blossom tree. 

“When a petal falls,” she began, “It goes with the flow, and the wind. You can’t force it to fall, but you can’t stop it either. Imagine you are the tree and your gem is the pet- wait that doesn’t sound right.” 

She looked at Steven confused, and he shrugged at her. 

“Well,” she began again, “maybe you are the petal and you have to create your own dance.” she stopped again and smiled. “Yes that sounds right.” 

She stood on her tiptoes and two of her hands reached towards herself. Steven knew that as well as her bow, she had a whip and a spear, but he almost never saw them before she combined the two and created her bow, as tall and as grand as her. 

Steven clapped politely, but he honestly felt more confused than ever. She smiled at him, and he smiled back, but the gem on his stomach felt the same, and not like a tree or a petal or whatever at all. He scooped up a pile of petals and threw them into the air, but nothing happened. 

They went back home, Steven feeling confused and dejected to see Garnet waiting for him. “My turn now.” she said and Steven smiled. Maybe this lesson from Garnet would be the key to mastering the use of his weapon! 

It was not the key. Garnet did not help at all, and instead his confusion only grew. Then he had an idea. 

He got Opal and Garnet and stood them where they had been standing when his gem had lit up. Neither of them looked convinced, but it was all Steven had and so they went along with it. 

“The fridge was open and Opal, your arms were kinda crossed. No not those arms, your other arms. Garnet, you were standing a little closer to the table and- perfect! Our scene has been set.” He picked up his half eaten Cookie Cat and went to take a bite out of it. “Wait!” He stopped himself “I sang the song first.” He rushed through the song, not really getting into it, he just wanted his gem to glow again. “I think it was funnier last time,” he said pouting. He checked his gem but it remained non glowing. “Maybe I’m not a real Crystal gem.” 

Opal uncrossed her arms, and crouched by Steven, still towering over him. “Of course you are, even if your gem is usele-“ she stopped herself before she could finish, but the damage was still done. “You’re one of us Steven.” she tried again, and this time she was rewarded with a small smile. 

“We aren’t the Crystal Gems without you,” said Garnet, nodding and Steven felt slightly better. 

“Even if I don’t have powers, I still have Cookie Cat!” He bit into the confectionary and was once again hit with sugary heaven. 

His gem began to glow again and this time, before he even noticed, a shield came out. Garnet looked on in shock, and Opal gasped. “It’s a shield,” She said in a hushed tone, as if in awe of it. 

“Awesome! I get a shield!” Steven grinned in pure happiness. The shield was one of the most beautiful things he’d ever seen. “Oh yeah!” 

He jumped, and the shield went haywire, bouncing around before lodging itself into the television. Opal made a sound somewhere between a laugh and a grimace, and Garnet didn’t visibly react, not looking surprised in the slightest. 

Any embarrassment Steven may have felt was overpowered by his pure excitement. “I summon my weapon by eating ice cream!” He said, oblivious it the reactions of disbelief around him. 

As if they sensed something had happened, all of a sudden, a bunch of the creatures from earlier ran up the side of the house, one of them clearly much bigger than the others. The Gems ran out of the house in time to watch the biggest climb up the hill that lead to the lighthouse. “It’s the mother!” Called out Garnet. 

She and Opal sprang into action. Steven attempted to follow, but Opal gently but firmly shut the door. “Stay in the house Steven.” 

Steven didn’t listen, instead running to the freezer and collecting as many as he could hold. He thought for a second and then also grabbed the mini freezer he had been generously given by Lars and Sadie. 

He opened the door and gasped to see Opal and Garnet cowering behind a large rock. “HEY!” he yelled and the centipeedle turned to face him. “He gulped but continued, slamming the freezer down for emphasis. “Leave them alone!” 

“He took an ice cream out and he ate it as fast as he could, but nothing happened. He looked up and saw the centipeedle looming over him. He did the only sensible thing he could think in the moment and ran, carrying his freezer in the vain hope that it would work. 

He grabbed several Cookie Cats and shoved them into his mouth, but it still didn’t work. He felt tears stream down his face and his stomach started to hurt, but his gem still wouldn’t glow. He felt useless. 

He heard Garnet try to fight the monster off but then looked to his side and saw his beloved ice cream freezer, flickering pathetically with electricity. He ran over to it, but it was no use. It was almost broken in two. 

He looked at the poor freezer, flashing and sizzling and he got an idea. With all he strength he hefted the freezer over his shoulder by the lead and threw it into the Centipeedle. The creature seized up with the voltage going through it’s body and screeched in pain. He watched as Garnet and Opal finished it off, seeing it flash and turn into light before only the thing’s gem remained. Garnet picked it up and placed the gem in a red bubble before sending it off somewhere. Steven hoped it wasn’t in any pain. 

Steven then turned his attention to his cookie cats, opting to dig a small hole and place an empty wrapper inside. It was only symbolic but somehow it made him feel much better. 

“Steven,” Opal came and sat near him, gently placing her arm around his shoulder. “Your powers don’t come from ice cream. But one day you’ll figure it out.” 

“Yes,” said Garnet, towering over him and smiling. “In your own Steveny way.” 

Steven tried to smile at them, but before they could say anything else, the pain in his stomach got worse, and he vomited miserably.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit shorter than before but ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

Steven walked along the boardwalk, triumphantly eating his bag of bits, Opal at his side. He had offered her one and she had taken it, but instead of eating it, she had simply smelled it, and now she was holding the greasy chip in her large hand. He didn't say anything though, this was normal Opal behaviour.

"You know Opal," Steven smiled and looked at the sunset, "I love when the sun goes down, and the second sun gets bigger in the sky!" Opal smiled at him and the two continued to walk along the boardwalk, just enjoying each other's company, when Opal stopped dead.

"I thought this planet only had one sun," she said, confused and the two of them looked at the sky again. The second Opal saw the 'second sun' her body language went from calm to panicked. She wordlessly picked up Steven and ran for the beach to see Garnet already there and looking through a telescope worriedly.

"This is bad," said Garnet simply, and Opal nodded, looking much less serene that usual.

"Can I see?" asked Steven, struggling out of Opal's arms. She put him down and he ran over to the telescope. "whoa," he gasped, "A giant eyeball!"

Opal barely looked through the telescope before looking at Garnet grimly, "A red eye."

"It's going to infect us all!" Steven started panicking.

"That's pink eye, Steven," said Garnet quietly.

"It might crash into beach city, and it could crush us," said Opal looking at Steven straight in the eye. She looked as if was either going to laugh or panic. "We have to stop it."

"To do that," replied Garnet, looking directly at the eye in the sky, "We'd need a light cannon. It's the only thing powerful enough to destroy it. And the only one we had belonged to Rose Quartz."

Opal looked uncomfortable at the mention of Rose, "If she were here this would be easier," she said looking down. "but she's not. And the cannon isn't here either."

"Maybe there's another solution!" suggested Steven, trying to be optimistic. He hated seeing his guardians look down. "Maybe my dad knows where it is!"

If Opal looked uncomfortable before, she looked downright in pain now. "He's kind of a mess Steven," she finally said, in the sort of tone adults used when trying to be nice about something. "I don't think he'd have it." Garnet looked at her, as if trying to get her to stop talking, but she continued. "And even if he did have it he would have probably lost it by now!" Opal was speaking loudly, and looked as if she had more to say, but Garnet reached up and placed a calming hand on her shoulder and she stopped. Her face went back to being blank and peaceful and Garnet cleared her throat.

"You should go ask him." she said, and Steven nodded, almost glad to have the excuse to leave.

"She always gets like this," Steven muttered under his breath. Opal had always had some sort of issue with his dad, and she showed it. Often. Sometimes, she could be pleasant to him, but others she was just... She was just mean! Steven tried to ignore it because he was sure it was just some adult issue that he'd never understand but still!

In the background, he heard Opal's arrows whizzing through the air, but from the disappointed noises, he assumed they hadn't worked.

He ran into his dad's car wash, only to find him already asleep in his van. Steven called out for him, but he was clearly fast asleep, so Steven had to take drastic measures. He jumped up and down on the roof of the van until finally the alarm went off and a bleary-eyed Greg stepped out of the van. Steven ran to give him a hug, before launching into an explanation.

"Steven," he began, "I'd love to help, but the gems told me to not get involved in magic stuff, and this sounds like magic stuff to me."

"But you knew mom, best and you might know where she put her cannon!" Steven pleaded. "It could be anywhere! Like in a castle or at the bottom of the ocean!"

Greg sighed and shut his van. "Well maybe not the ocean, but I have an idea of where it could be."

He took Steven to his old storage unit and smiled fondly as the boy's eyes widened in excitement. He tried to run inside but was blocked by the wall to wall boxes. "Be careful!" said Greg as Steven instead started crawling between the boxes. He didn't think there was anything dangerous inside, but Rose had also stored some things, and knowing the gems, you could never be too cautious.

For a while, all he could hear were the sounds of Steven finding something, and immediately discarding it, until he heard the sound of cracking glass. "Dad, "called Steven, sounding guilty, "I broke a photo!"

"Don't worry about it," he comforted his son, "If every porkchop were perfect, we wouldn't have hotdogs." Steven laughed, but then there was a flash of almost blinding light.

"The light cannon!" Steven eagerly tried to lift it, but it was too heavy for him. Eventually they managed to somewhat put it into a small trailer, and Greg and Steven used the van to drag it down to the beach, hearing it scrape along the road as they went.

They drove onto the beach, seeing Opal and Garnet still desperately shooting at the thing. It clearly wasn't working, and they were beginning to look tired. When they saw the light cannon, Opal gasped, her hands covering her mouth, and Garnet looked at it in shock. "He really had it," she said, adjusting her visor.

The red eye got closer and closer, and things began moving towards it, as if it had a gravitational pull. Opal's ponytail whipped around, appearing messier, and the gem's ran to the cannon. "WE don't know how this works," she said, "It was Rose's!"

Steven looked at Greg pleadingly. "How do we use it?" Greg shrugged and shook his head. He continued to look at his dad when he felt a tug on his shoulder, and he span to see Opal towering above him.

"The gem! You have Rose's gem! That's it!" she picked him up and pressed him to the cannon, but still nothing happened. She continued to keep him pressed there until Garnet stopped her, and Steven breathed a sigh of relief as he slid off the cannon.

He pounded against it with his fist, praying something would work, but it remained still, and nothing happened. The red eye drew closer, and Steven started to panic again. "It's okay Steven," Greg tried to soothe, "We can find a new solution! It's going to be fine!"

"Right!" Steven agreed, teeth chattering. "If every pork chop were perfect, we wouldn't have hot dogs!"

The cannon lit up and started to shudder, Garnet and Opal came, and helped him steady it. "Brace yourself!" called Garnet and a beam of light shot out and hit the red eye. It exploded and red debris fell onto the beach, narrowly missing Steven.

"Well," said Opal, "That's most of beach city saved." Steven winced at the sight of the ruined fry shop, but Opal was still focused on the cannon. "How did you get it to work?" she asked. Now Steven was looking at her, he could see that she was exhausted.

"I'm not sure" he shrugged, "I just said that thing that dad always says." Opal looked confused so he repeated the phrase. It didn't seem to help but she nodded in acknowledgement.

A wave swept the gems and his dad into the ocean, but they just laughed, happy to be alive. Opal and Greg didn't even seem uncomfortable around each other. That was until Greg saw his van being swept out further into the sea.

He ran after it and Steven followed grinning. It felt good to help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is my take on Laser Light cannon. Not much has changed yet, but in this chapter I think we start seeing how Opal is both different and similar from Pearl and Amethyst. I think Opal seems more clear about her dislike for Greg at this point because she has the feelings of Pearl but she's more likely to express dislike like Amethyst, being mean as a way to protect herself. I don't think Opal changed much, like in the last chapter, but I want to start diverging. I won't do every episode and I'm currently debating skipping Cheeseburger Backpack in favour for together breakfast.

**Author's Note:**

> The ending may feel a little abrupt but it’s where it ended in show so ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯  
> This first chapter is not particularly how the rest of the story will go. It’s basically a shot for shot remake of the first episode which I don’t want to do, because what’s the point really. It’ll follow a similar sort of line to canon but this change will change personalities, relationships, dynamics and much more so certain stories just wouldn’t work anymore. I’d love to discuss any questions if you have any so you can either comment or DM me on Tumblr at TwinkleTwinklelittleDream  
> Cheers for reading 👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻


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